Lab Report

Tori Suchy
Physical Science Honors
1st block
October 4, 2012
Balloon Powered Car Problem: In order to create a race car that can travel a minimum of eight meters powered by a nine inch balloon. We need incorporate Newton 's Law of Motion including speed, velocity, and acceleration. Hypothesis: If a car were to be made out of homemade materials, then it would be possible for it to travel 8 meters powered by a nine inch balloon.
Independent Variable: building the car from homemade materials.
Dependent Variable: The results of speed and distance from the car responding to the materials Rationale: In this experiment, the challenge is to build a balloon powered car from homemade materials that can travel at least 8 meters. According to Newton’s Third law, it is possible to accomplish this objective. Force is any push or pulls and can be measured in newtons. The first law states that an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an opposing force. It also says that if an object is in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Also, during research it was found that Newton 's 2nd law states that an object 's acceleration depends on the mass of the object and the force acted upon it. This law is expressed in the equation, F (force) = M (mass)*A (acceleration). The third law explains that when an object exerts force on another object that object exerts force back. The objects would equal each other in magnitude but go the opposite direction. Materials: 1 straw 9 inch balloon 2 coasters Hot glue/Duct tape 2 plastic lids 1 skewer Procedures Part A Put on safety goggles first because there will be many sharp and hot objects used in making the car. Cut the bendable part off a straw. Insert a wooden skewer so that it moves freely within the straw. Push one end of the skewer through the middle of one of the coasters and repeat on the other side. Hot glue the wheels in place but are sure to only glue it on the wooden skewer and not the straw. Keep in mind that the skewer still needs to be able to move freely within the straw. Get two plastic lids that are the same size. Hot glue one on each side of the car next to the coasters but leave a small space between. Make sure that the lids are level so the car will roll straight. Blow a balloon up and stick a piece of duct tape to the bottom. Stick the balloon to the middle straw and get ready to race.
Procedures Part B Blow the balloon up as much as you can without popping it. Hold the opening so no air escapes. Roll up a piece of duct tape and stick it to the bottom of the balloon. Stick the balloon to the straw that is on the wooden skewer while still holding the opening. Sit the car on the ground and aim it in the direction it is supposed to roll with the opening of the balloon pointing the opposite direction. Let go of the opening of the balloon and watch the car roll.

Observations:
Qualitative: As the opening of the balloon was released, the car started moving. The car took off fast and started to slow down when it got to around 7 meters. When the car passed 7 meters, it kept moving even though there was no more air left in the balloon because of Newton’s first law. It slowed down after it got to about 8 and half meters. The total distance the car traveled was 9 meters and 2 cm. There were many different cars that all moved in different ways. It seemed that the lighter the car the faster it would move due to Newton 's 2nd law. The majority of the cars with big wheels traveled the farthest.

Quantitative: Balloon Car Data | Class Numbers | Speed | Acceleration | Net Force | 1 | 1.22 | 0.148 | 3.034 | 2 | 0.4345 | 0.0203 | 0.4795 | 3 | 0.369 | 0.0124 | 1.6864 | 4 | 0.496 | 0.038 | 1.9 | 5 | 0.692 | 0.06802 | 3.9116627 | 6 | 0.67 | 0.05 | 1.3 | 7 | 0.635 | 0.0354 | 0.538 | 8 | 0.524 | 0.04003 | 1.7813 | 9 | 0.132 | 0.017 | 0.4675 | 10 | 0.578 | 0.03602 | 0.6486 | 11 | 0.78 | 0.0434 | 0.521 | 12 | 0.077 | 0.034 | 0.81 | 13 | 0.42 | 0.037 | 0.999 | 14 | 0.5 | 0.03 | 1.3425 | 15 | 0.19 | 0.0257 | 0 | 16 | 0.205 | 0.0069 | 0.357 | 17 | 0.68914 | 0.04225 | 0.8873 | 18 | 0.1611 | 0.0076 | 0.37465 | 19 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 5.54 | 20 | 1.3276 | 0.1916 | 9.3309 | 21 | 0.4654 | 0.0234 | 1.33 | 22 | 0.133 | 0.009 | 0.601 | 23 | 1.3 | 0.43 | 1.933 | 24 | 0.617 | 0.03806 | 2.116 | 25 | 1.6 | 0.325 | 3.54 | 26 | 0.232 | 0.0154 | 0.63356 | 27 | 0.41 | 0.016 | 1.6416 | 28 | 0.5403 | 0.032 | 1.0402 | Formulas: Speed= Distance/ time, Acceleration= (speed-0)/ time, Net Force= Mass* acceleration.

Conclusion: The car moved forward easily by the force of the air coming out of the balloon. All the cars in the class were made different but the majority of them worked better with a lighter body. The data supports the hypothesis on page 1. Extension: One error identified was that some people in the class calculated their speed, acceleration, or net force wrong. This effected how accurate the chart and table were. The car had to be redesigned more than once for it to travel the required distance.

Works Cited
ZIELINSKI, JEFF. "Laws of Motion." Transworld Ride BMX 20.172 (2011): 60. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 8 Oct. 2012.
Dykstra, Dewey. "Newton And Newton 's Third Law." American Journal Of Physics 77.8 (2009): 677. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Oct. 2012.
Stevens-Smith, Deborah A., and Shelley W. Fones. "Scootin ' With Newton: Teaching Newton 's First Law Of Motion." Strategies 15.6 (2002): 17-20. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 8 Oct. 2012.

Cited: ZIELINSKI, JEFF. "Laws of Motion." Transworld Ride BMX 20.172 (2011): 60. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 8 Oct. 2012. Dykstra, Dewey. "Newton And Newton 's Third Law." American Journal Of Physics 77.8 (2009): 677. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Oct. 2012. Stevens-Smith, Deborah A., and Shelley W. Fones. "Scootin ' With Newton: Teaching Newton 's First Law Of Motion." Strategies 15.6 (2002): 17-20. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 8 Oct. 2012.